Above and beyond (fülszöveg)
The Medal of Honor is America's highest award for military valor. It is bestowed on those who have performed an act of such conspicuous gallantry as to rise "above and beyond the call of duty." Indeed, the roll of honor includes but 3,394 of the tens of millions of men and women who have served their country in the time of need since the Civil War. Yet among them are the names of generals and privates alike, of soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen, of Americans of every color and creed, from every corner of this vast land. As a symbol of heroism, it has no equal in American life.
Here now, for the first time, is a comprehensive history of the Medal of Honor. Through authoritative text and lavish pictures, Above and Beyond presents the story of the medal and those who have earned it, commencing on the blood-drenched battlefields of the Civil War and culminating in the eerie jungles of Vietnam. Scores of stirring accounts from every American conflict celebrate the selfless valor that has set these men—and one woman—apart from their comrades-at-arms. Exclusive interviews with living recipients and first-person reports from years past testify to the widely differing personalities of these American heroes, to their thoughts and beliefs—and how the medal affected their lives, for good, or for ill.
While relating the story of the medal, Above and Beyond also examines the history of America at war, from the Civil War, through the wars of expansion westward into Indian territory, in the Caribbean basin and in the Pacific, through the two World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam. For a time, the Medal of Honor was also awarded in peacetime to a few outstanding men such as Charles Lindbergh and Admiral Richard Byrd; this splendid volume salutes them and records their exploits as well.
Above and Beyond is more than a history. It is, in fact, a pantheon of our country's greatest war heroes, of those, among untold thousands of courageous Americans, whose valor far exceeded the call of duty. For, in a final section, the editors have put together a complete register of honor, in which each and every one of the 3,394 Medal of Honor recipients is named, along with the date, branch of service and arena of action. These are the Americans who have earned their nation's ever-lasting gratitude.
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| KATALÓGUS | TARTALOM |
